Sound systems for large temporary venues typically involve the suspension or “flying” of stacks of loudspeaker in various arrays to achieve the necessary acoustic output and coverage for a large audience. Such arrays of loudspeakers are typically suspended and held together by rigging systems which can be attached to rigging hoists which position the stack at a desired elevation and location, typically above or in the vicinity of a performance stage. A flown stack of loudspeakers can include many speaker boxes, and the rigging system for flying the stack must be strong enough to support the enormous weight of the loudspeakers. Such rigging systems generally involve the use of metal framing elements secured to the speaker boxes that can be used to link the speakers together in an array and to lift the loudspeaker array to an overhead flying position.
Often the design requirements of a sound system will require that the individual speaker boxes be arranged in a horizontal array or vertical stack so that they are angled relative to each other, e.g splayed with respect to each other. Setting the proper splay angle can be critical to achieving the desired acoustic performance while minimizing interference between the acoustic outputs of other speakers in the array. Splay angles, are generally provided by adjusting the linkage lengths between the frames of the stacked speakers to create a desired angle. One existing approach for accomplishing this is to provide a relatively long chain linkage at the front corners of the speakers while providing a short link at the back of the speakers. When the speakers are hoisted overhead to their flown position, additional linkages are used to pull tension on the chains to provide the loudspeaker splay angles. The drawback with this type of system is that additional linkages greatly increase the difficulty of the installation, particularly when the speaker stack includes a large number of speakers.
Another known approach to creating a desired splay angle is to use straight, rigid extension bars to link the front or rear corners of the speaker's rigging frames. Such extension bars have locator holes distributed along their length for achieving different separations between the speaker corners, and can be exchanged with other extension bars with shifted locator holes such that one bar can be used to achieve intermediate splay angles provided by another bar. One problem with such extension bars is that they are often misplaced or lost, and are cumbersome to install. Another difficulty is that the degree of adjustment of the splay angle for any given bar is inherently limited by the size and separation of their locator holes necessary to maintain component strength.
An additional drawback to the prior art relates to unforeseen acoustics within a particular structure. Should the acoustics provided by the array not perform as anticipated, all or portions of the array may have to be disassembled to modify the splay of the speakers. This often necessitates lowering the speakers so that they can be repositioned with respect to each other.
Finally, there are ergonomic needs that a speaker mounting system must satisfy in order to achieve acceptance by the end user. The system must be easily and quickly assembled using minimal hardware and requiring a minimal number of tools. Further, the system should not require excessive strength to assemble or include heavy component parts. Moreover, the system must assemble together in such a way so as not to detract from the aesthetic appearance of the suspended speaker(s) array.
Thus, the present invention provides a rigging system for loudspeakers which overcomes the disadvantages of prior art rigging systems. The rigging system of the present invention not only provides for relative ease in the assembly and flying of an array of loudspeakers, it also permits full adjustment of the pan, tilt and rotational splay angles of the loudspeakers without the need to exchange parts. The present invention also provides a rigging system which holds the separation and splay angle between speaker boxes, thereby eliminating the need for exchanging parts or additional linkages.